A Time for:
by FizzyWitch
Summary: Originally this was simply going to be a one-shot. It was called "A Time for Ice Cream". Now though, it seems to have developed a plot: Buffy and Giles face monsters... and each other. They learn a lot along the way.
1. A Time For Conversations

**A TIME FOR ICECREAM- By FizzyWitch**

**Rated: G**

**Buffy/Giles friendship**

**Some Angel/Buffy**

**Part One:**

_And wild horses couldn't drag me away… no, wild, wild horses…_

The music faded, and a peppy song filled with discordant blips and bleeps filled the auditorium. At any other time Buffy would have enjoyed the beat- but not then, not that night. Not when Angel pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She knew that was all she would have from him. He had given her that: a single, perfect dance. He would give her no more. Her heart broke once again, the drowning feeling in her lungs almost overwhelming.

"No… Angel, please. Can't we have more than a dance? Can't we have…?"

He cut her off, "What Buffy? What can we have?"

She looked up at him. Her eyes entreating him. _'Forever.' _she wanted to say. But she didn't let the word slip free. He knew what she wanted as well as she did. And they both knew that they couldn't ever have it.

Giles watched from the side of the dance floor. He was neglecting his chaperoning duties, to be sure. But he couldn't look away from the sight of his dear Buffy. Her young heart being broken once more. He cleared his throat as Angel walked away, leaving Buffy alone in the middle of the gyrating masses.

Giles knew he couldn't help her fight this battle. He knew, but he didn't want to except it. Truthfully, Giles wanted to go off and stake the vampire. But he knew that would cause Buffy even more pain. That fact may have been the only thing that stayed his hand.

Slowly, Giles maneuvered his way through the crowd until he was standing behind Buffy. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She took a step away, and turned to face him.

"Don't." She said.

He could barely hear her over the music. "Don't what Buffy?

"Don't be nice, I don't think I'll be able to keep myself. Ya know, completely sane-slayer if you're nice. There could be badness. And tears… Which is a big part of the Buffy-badness." A wet giggle emerged.

"Shush, now, don't be foolish. Come with me." He draped a protective arm around her and led her out of the gym. Leaving the pounding beat and throngs of happy, ignorant children behind.

"Uhh… Giles? Why are we in the cafeteria? I know the food here is evil, but I'm not exactly The Mystery Meat Slayer."

"Right, right. Just hold on a moment. I'll be back."

Buffy jumped up so that she was sitting on the counter top, swinging her legs to and fro as best as she could while wearing the confining prom dress.

Giles returned bearing two spoons and a bag. He set it down on the counter next to Buffy and removed from it eight different cartons of ice cream. Rocky road, Mocha Crunch, Fish Food, Vanilla, Chocolate, Mint Chocolate cookie dough, Strawberry Cheesecake, Green Tea…

"Woah, Giles, making with the sugar cravings much?"

"I wasn't sure, I mean, I didn't know, if there was a particular kind of ice cream that was preferred in this situation."

Buffy looked at him, her lower lip threatened to tremble. "My dear," Said Giles, with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this."

"I already miss him, Giles. So much. And I feel bad even saying that to you. He hurt you so badly. You shouldn't have to hear all this. Bad Buffy." She looked away, even her weak attempt at wordplay not softening the ball of tears in her throat.

"Never be afraid to tell me anything." He looked choked for a moment, "Know, my dear girl, that yes, Angelus hurt me in unfathomable ways…"

Buffy squeaked.

"But," He continued, "that never meant I wanted you to do without the man you love. As hard as it can be for me to comprehend at times, Angel and Angelus are two separate and distinct creatures. And of them, you loved the one who fights on the side of right, the side of good. I cannot blame you for that, I cannot fault you for that. No one could."

At that, Buffy started to cry.

_A/N: So, I will either write a single additional chapter to finish this off OR I will turn it into a big plot filled bit of A/U goodness… But that is up to you, the readers, to decide. Review with your preference!_


	2. A Time for Interuptions

Chapter 2:

A TIME FOR INTERUPTIONS

Leaning against the counter that Buffy was using as a perch, Giles took her hand in his and waited out the tears that he knew she had been holding inside of her.

"I was so afraid, Giles, that you would hate me." Startled green eyes met watery blue.

"Buffy, I could never hate you. You may have amazing powers to confound and even at times, irritate me…" He smiled, thinking of blasting training music and jokes with himself as the punch line.

"But I couldn't hate _him_, Giles. Even after everything he'd done. Even after, Jenny… and what he did to you. That's why I didn't tell you that he'd come back. Because even after everything, I didn't hate him."

"Buffy," Giles played with his glasses, running a cloth over the lenses more times than were strictly needed, "I'm very fond of you."

Buffy nudged his leg with a silver clad shoe, and, smiling, said, "I love you too, Watcher-Mine."

Giles cleared his throat suspiciously, "Yes, well, the ice cream is in grave danger of being only a puddle if we don't get to it soon."

Buffy contemplated her options, "Hmmmm, I think this slayer is in the mood for some Fish Food."

As he handed her the pint of ice cream, Giles muttered, "Americans and their bloody odd names for these things." To Buffy's chagrin he selected the green tea ice cream for himself.

They had only managed a few mouthfuls before they heard the sound of a blood curdling scream coming from the gym. Xander rushed through the doorway barely a second later with Anya in tow.

He gasped for breath "…Monster… Prom… Pointy… Baddness… "

Buffy raised her face to the ceiling for a moment, "Couldn't you tell them I have the night off or something?" In a second she was on her feet and making a break for the door.

"Giles, with me. Xander- weapons. Anya, take care of the ice cream."

------------

The doors to the gym slammed open with a BANG as Buffy kicked them in. Xander racing up bearing sword, ax, crossbow and a number of stakes just as the demon charged towards a huddle of students. At her entrance, the massive thing halted and faced her.

"Buffy, heads up!" Xander threw the sword into her ready hand.

The demon in question had the body of a buffalo, large and covered with matted brown hair. If Buffy looked closely enough she could see the blood and other fluids that had long since soaked into that disgusting coat. Buffy decided not to look that closely.

The head that perched upon the creatures massive shoulders was in no way comparable to any animal found on earth. Ugly yellow horns protruded from a squared head. Its eyes glowed fiercely black in the dimly lit gym. A purple tongue took a pass across rough black teeth as the demon looked her over.

"_**Slayyyyyeerr." the voice felt like gravel being poured into her ears. **_

"_**What, no hello? You demons just don't have any manners these days." And with that Buffy raised her weapon and the battle officially began.**_


	3. A Time For Battle

Chapter three - A TIME FOR: BATTLE

…….

The silver blade cut through the air only to tangle in beasts horns. The creature threw its head forward in a charge- blade and horns still hopelessly tangled- shoving Buffy's sword back at her, hilt first. This move forced the slayer to release her blade. Rearing back, the demon shook itself free of the sword, and it fell from its horns in a clatter.

Buffy circled her prey warily, now on the opposite side of the room from her weaponry. In her periphery could see Willow and Oz hustling the last of the stragglers from the now decimated gym.

'Good.' She thought. 'One less thing I have to worry about.'

Giles was flanking her now, finally having made his way through the throng of fleeing students. He studied the beast intently, hoping to find some clue as to what sort of demon they were now facing. Silver runic symbols flashed about the creatures face when the flickering lights hit them from the right angle.

'If only,' he thought. 'I could get close enough to translate, perhaps a Crulation dialect?- God lord!'

He had been paying so much attention the physical descriptors of the creature that he had failed to notice when the beast prepared to charge him. He tumbled out of the way with not a second to spare.

Buffy was upon the thing within the moment, pummeling it with her fists. She dodged, avoiding the sharp tips of its horns and the crushing power of its hooves. Again that strange, unearthly voice rang in their ears.

"SLAYEEEEER! You dare defy me! I AM AGNOMIS. I AM POWER BEYOND YOUR KEN! You will not defeat me."

"Second verse, same as the first." Buffy quipped through her blows, "Do you know how often you guys reuse lines? You must really be into recycling."

Suddenly she flipped up and over the demon- Agnomis- to grab her sword from the place that it had fallen.

"Which is weird, cuz I always thought that was a good-guy sorta thing."

It charged her, a snarl painting its ugly face, and she stabbed it through the center of its chest, her sword pulling free with a sucking sound. Agnomis's knees crumpled as he fell, spitting blood.

"You will rue this day."

Agnomis laughed, a terrible sound- if his voice was gravel than his laugh was boulders toppling down a hillside, "Cr glr plg kn drng grk twp grwwn…"

His eyes flashed crystalline, and the runes that marked his face flared from silver to red, as Agnomis, the undefeatable, died at Buffy's feet.

And… nothing happened.

She turned back to Giles and the rest of the Scoobies.

"You know that really was not as apocalypse-y as I was expecting. Kind of a let down actually."

Or maybe something happened.

"Umm, Buffster, you may want to rethink that…and possibly move!" Xander said.

But it was already to late. Invisible hands pulled her backward- she fought them, or at least attempted to as she couldn't touch them. Buffy noticed the look on Xander's face. He was freaked, they all were, Buffy could see it plainly. She only had a single additional second to wonder about the electric blue lights playing on her surroundings before she was sucked into the vacuous portal that had opened behind her.

The scoobies stood shocked for a moment. Then Giles, with a battle cry, ran towards the gaping rip in the world.

A/N: SO, readers opinion- should Giles make it through and be stuck in an unknown demention with our dear Buffy? Or should the portal close before he can reach her? I have really cool ideas for either eventuality. Reviews totally recharge my fingers typing skills! Just a hint :D


	4. A Time For Conflict

**Chapter 4: A Time For Conflict**

There was the sound of breaking glass and then she was spat unceremoniously onto the rough ground. Before she could move Giles had tumbled out after her, his head colliding firmly with her elbow. "Ow." He said, without inflection.

The portal glimmered for a moment before it snapped, crackled and sparked closed.

She sat up and observed the forested area around them, her slayer senses sharp. She perceived no threat so she turned her attention towards Giles. She looked down at him huffily.

"Giles! What are you doing?"

"Saving you." He said, eyes still closed. A bit of dirt smudged his nose.

"You didn't think it might be a bit more effective to stay in the same… place… where you could be research guy? I'm pretty sure your books aren't going to be… to be…" She gesticulated wildly, searching for an apt descriptor, "To be somewhere over the rainbow!"

"Excuse me for not thinking! I do that on occasion."

"No. You. Don't. GAH!" Her head thumped back onto the ground, a puff of dust rising in her face.

Giles sighed, deciding that digression was the better part of valor and did not comment.

-------

After a few moments sitting on the ground and soaking up the helplessness of their situation Buffy and Giles had gotten up and begun to walk. Giles's once crisp white shirt was being torn to scraps in hopes of marking the way that they had come.

"I had to be wearing heels didn't I? Note to self, 4 inch stillettos may be sheek at prom but bring a spare set of Nikes for the after party through the interdementional what-sit."

"Must you?" Giles glanced at her disparagingly, "My own foot wear is not what you might consider seemly for our trek either."

"Yes! I must! Giles, don't you understand? This was prom! And now, I'm not at the after party or whatever doing whatever non-slayer girls do on non-school nights! And, ya know, Non everything sounds good right about now."

He rolled his eyes to the sky beseechingly, "Well since this is only happening to you, then I suppose that surely I'm in the wrong to comment on your childish whining."

"Shut up."

"Don't talk to me that way-"

"Giles." Brown eyes met green, and flicked toward movement in the trees as she growled, "Shut. Up."

"Oh," he whispered, "Right."

And the trees and brush surrounding them suddenly shifted and they were surrounded by a group of darkly clad people. Highly armed people. With in a second, Buffy and Giles had gone from verbal sparring, to back to back in a defensive stance. The sword was raised high in Buffy's grip, and Giles held a thick pole from the forest floor in a threatening manner.

"You know," Said Buffy, surveying the morass of people surrounding them, "Slayer or non-slayer, this would be considered an 'Oh Shit' moment."

"You never cease to amaze me with the... aptness... of your statements. Oh shit, indeed."

A/N: Well that would be it for this one. I feel like I should apologize for how short these chapters are. I fear I will always be jealous of authors who have the ability to whip out 5000 word chapters... But never fear! Soon the next update shall be here. Any hopes for our characters? Throw those ideas/opinions at me, it can only stimulate the writing process. Thanks, keep reading and reviewing!


	5. A Time For Bondage

Chapter 5: A Time For Bondage- And, No, It's Not The Fun Kind

"Well this is surely an improvement."

"Shut up, Giles."

"Really, I mean after seeing how elegantly you maneuvered us out of that situation I shall never question your slayer authority again."

"Giles, when I get us out of here I'm going to kill you. Twice."

They stood back to back, a pole between them, their hands cuffed together with leather and rope. Normally Buffy would have broken their bonds easily, but after she had done that to the first set of cuffs the natives had added a strange metal twine to the mess circling their wrists. And they had doubled the number of really buff guys with spears that were guarding them.

"Seeing our position I don't have the utmost confidence that I won't be dying tonight anyway. So go on, get in line."

Buffy jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, making him grunt and her wince as the metal twine bit into her wrist.

"There will be no dying on prom night! None!"

"Oh, shut it about your bloody prom!"

He yelled, with more force than he intended. But his head was throbbing where it had been cut in the skirmish, and he really was sick of hearing about her perfect prom with her perfect, if occasionally homicidal, vampire. Not that he was bitter, or anything. Just human. Okay, maybe he was a little bitter.

To his surprise, Buffy did shut up. There was no snappy come back, no bruising blow to his ribs. Nothing. It took Giles a moment to realize this. Their usually playful (if frequently heartfelt) verbal sparring was so familiar that he felt the wrongness in her silence even through his anger and frustration. Taking a moment to calm himself, he found himself wishing he could see her face. But bound as they were that was an impossibility.

Giles felt her shudder slightly, as if distressed. 'Good show, old man.' He thought, 'now you've made her cry.' His stomach roiled slightly, he had never been good dealing with emotions.

"Buffy… I'm…" But Giles, in all his British-ness, had no idea where to go from there. He felt the familiar urge to clean his glasses, if only to give his hands something to do. Instead he twisted his bound right hand slightly, and rather painfully, until he loosely clasped her own.

One of the youngest soldiers, stoic until now, cocked his head slightly as he watched their interaction.

"I know, Giles." And he had a feeling that she did know.

He spoke, a light note in his voice. "No one is dying… on prom night."

She snorted softly.

Neither noticed the young soldier snap back to attention. Suddenly the spears surrounding them parted to form an arch over the head of a stately man with dark hair. "Actually," He said in lightly accented English, "I believe that particular issue will be resolved by myself."

The tenseness that filled Buffy now had no relation to hurt feelings. "Well if it isn't the head honcho, here to sing the same old song of murder and mayhem."

The man's eyes flashed, and with a start Buffy realized they were the same sickly color of the beast she had left dead on the gymnasium floor.

Now Giles was squeezing her hand lightly in reproach. Addressing the man himself, he said, "I'm sorry, but if you don't mind this isn't really a particularly ideal position for us to… ah… chat."

The mercurial eyes calmed, "Of course, of course." He turned to a member of the guard, "Markayus, do release our guests, won't you?" The young soldier who had watched their exchange so intently now made his way down into the pit to unbind the pair.

As he worked he whispered to them both, "Do not trust him. Blond one, be silent. If you wish to live trust your man to speak for you. Else, you are lost to him."

A flash of realization shown in Giles's eyes, but he merely nodded at the man who freed them. The look he shot Buffy when she opened her mouth was quelling and she huffed slightly to herself but chose, wisely, not to speak. For the moment at least.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! Knowing that there is somebody out there reading this is what keeps me writing. Keep sending me your theories and thoughts. When I know what your wondering I can make sure I address it in future chapters.


	6. Not A Time For Buffyisms

Chapter Six: (Not) A Time For Buffyisms

The tent Buffy and Giles were led into was obviously supposed to imbue a viewer with the impression of grandeur. Giles was impressed if only due to the fact that some of the artifacts seem to be related to a distinctly dead culture.

Buffy, however, could have cared less. What you never realized until it happened to you, was that being kidnapped by a bunch of hostile weirdos in another dimensional-what-sit was pretty damn boring once the fighting was over. She stared down the guy in charge.

Noting his cape and his slicked back black hair, she said "I think you're confused the super villans convention isn't until next Tuesday." This comment earned her a bump in the side from Giles.

Super Villian came closer, his face twisted into a facsimile of a smile as he leaned his face far into hers, "Woah, buddy, personal space much?"

Suddenly he growled, his face barely moving, the features rock like and immobile. But scary. Yikes, was this guy a creeper.

"If you cannot control your woman, she will be controlled for you!" This remark, directed at Giles sent her eyebrows skyrocketing. _'I'm my own fricking woman you dick!' _

_She arched an eyebrow, and opened her mouth to say as much, only to find his hand wrapped around her throat in a choking grip. This was a really bad way to find out that her opponent was stronger than her, she mused and wished for her hands so that she could fight the choking grip on her throat. _

_Buffy could hear Giles shouting from behind the Super Villain, his face swimming into view over the shoulder of the creepy dude. Creepy dude smelled really weird she thought dazedly, like lemons and evil. Did evil have a smell? And she smiled as her knee came up to connect with tender flesh as the odd smelling Super Villian and Giles melted away and her world went black._

_A/N: Oh snap, we're all in trouble now. Sorry its been so long since my last update life just got busy. I was actually being threatened by this crazy asshole (my sisters ex-fiance, actually) and it totally killed my writing buzz. Once again, I live for constructive criticism. I love my reviewers!_


	7. A Time For Chains

**A Time For Chains**

Giles took stock of his situation; the slayer was out cold, being dragged away from him to be taken only the gods knew where, and he was here with the insane pillock pressing a rough arm against his windpipe. He had definately seen better days, though sadly, this was not his worst. Images flashed behind his eyelids- _the rough wood of the chair beneath his fingers, the smell of wet stone, the taste of bile in his mouth and the shkriiiick of his bone snapping through the unreleased scream in his mind and the insane laughter he couldn't escape._

Giles blinked, calming his breathing as much as possible with his limited air flow, the voice he was hearing was insane, yes, but it was not Angelous he heard but the man in front of him.

"-control her. I am kind enough to allow you to join our small comunity, but insolence will not be tolerated. You dared to raise weapons against us! Us! Who shall let you live only out of the true nobility and sence of justice in our pure hearts." The mans face was twisted into a sympathetic smile, at contrast to the force he was exserting .

"Due to your woman's willful nature I cannot allow you to contaminate the higher members of our society, such as myself, and so you must be subjugated to labor in the mines with those that are less then common. Mind you teach your whore to be silent as a worthless woman should be."

Disgust and anger warred with each other in Gile's mind. The pressure was removed from his throat and he spit bloodly saliva onto the ground, narrowly missing the mans batman esque cape. The expression on the guard, Markayus's, face when he had whispered his warning to them and his desperate urge to find his slayer kept the furious words he wished to say to the coward at bay. Instead he nodded jerkily, staring the man down.

The man scoffed at his futile rebelliousness, meeting Giles stare for stare.

"Take the fool away." He instructed the guards, two of them flanked Giles and they moved him to the now open tent flap.

Almost as an after thought the man added, "And teach him a lesson about taming his woman. A gift from his new ruler- Yazar." And with that Yazar's face split into a smirk.

Giles didn't even have time to complete the thought of _'Oh, dear Lord...' _before the guards had chained his wrists and begun to drag him towards a very grim future.

**ooooooooooooooo**

Buffy awoke in darkness, throat throbbing. "Hey! Anybody out there want to turn on the lights?" A wet dripping sound was her only reply.

"Shit."

She rested her head back against the floor, hoping against hope that there were no creepy crawlies keeping her company in her cell. A heavy link chain bound her ankles and wrists, standing, she yanked an arm forward intending to pull it free from the wall. Suddenly, it was as if the chain was alive. It tightend unbearably around her wrists and the links felt as though they were being sucked into the wall. She was yanked into the wall her shoulder slamming back into cold stone. There was a crack of breaking bone, and Buffy's quiet cry of surprise and pain echoed in the darkness of her cell.

**A/N:** So, the guy who had been threatening me and my sister stole my laptop. Hence the wait in update in chapters as I had pre-writen them and didn't have a backup copy. When I tried to rewrite them originally I was thumped in the head with a major case of writers block. GRRRRR, he must have stolen my plot bunny too! Dern him. I've waited it out and I went to reread "A Time For:" and was very touched by all the reviews. You guys are awesome. It looks like this story is going a completely different direction then what I had intended when I started. But! I bet it will be even better :D Thanks for hanging in there you all!


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